Maldon Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses, organisations and groups regularly over coming weeks in a feature called UP CLOSE IN MALDON in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to business as usual.

This week we talk to Julie Miller, curator of Maldon's Combined Military Services Museum in Station Road. During an in-depth Q and A session Julie reveals why she's passionate about her work in Maldon as well as what she loves about the town's community and her gratitude for its support during the current crisis.

Julie Miller's passion for history shines through as soon as she starts to speak on the subject, as does her love for the town that helped her discover it.

"It started early on," she says, "from when I was a child and I'd go digging on the disused railway line looking for bottles. The bank was created using rubbish from London, so there were all sorts of things to find.

"A lot of the kids in Maldon did it – when you went there, it looked like a moonscape with all the holes."

It's been a long journey – and a lifetime dedicated to Maldon – that has led Julie from that youthful desire to know more about the past through to her role today as the curator of the Combined Military Services Museum in Station Road.

Julie was appointed curator at the museum at the start of August this year, but before that she had been a tour guide and then, for 13 years, the business manager at the historic Moot Hall in the High Street. She remains a trustee there and has multiple connections with other heritage attractions in Maldon and the surrounding area.

She is well-known in the town, both for her work and writing on all things local history and for other reasons, too. In 2016 she was elected to Maldon Town Council, which she served on for 18 months.

Now Julie is faced with the challenge of helping to keep the community engaged with its heritage through the current pandemic. She is delighted with the £52,400 Government grant the museum received this week to help it through, but is also determined to provide the public with something interesting and engaging to do as they negotiate their way through these difficult times.

This determined woman is used to having to find her strength. Julie has been in remission from breast cancer for 18 months now after discovering she had the disease during her time as a town councillor. She has learned to take nothing for granted and knows that for Maldon's heritage and visitor attractions to keep going, the loyalty so far shown by the local community is key.

"I think that the people of Maldon value their heritage attractions," she says, "and are supporting them so they will still all be there when this is all over. Everything is Covid-safe and we are now using a booking system. And we are still working hard to put things on for people to see."

Julie is proud of the volunteers at the museum and tells how two of them are currently studying for their MA in History at the University of Essex, where she is currently working towards her PhD – in History, of course.

Since lockdown, she has been involved in a project to bring history to everyone from the comfort of their own homes - Julie has given talks for the 'History Indoors' project which covers a variety of topics and is being delivered by PhD students from the University of Essex. Anyone wanting to access the talks can visit the History indoors website here.

Julie is a key player in a number of other local history and heritage projects, too, and feels strongly that the role women played in the history of the town should be celebrated.

One of her hopes is to see a statue of 'Captain Ann' of Maldon in the grounds of the Plume Building, as Ann was married at the former church on the site in 1620. Julie tells how she "would love" to achieve this by the 400th anniversary of Captain Ann's execution – she was hanged in 1629 for her part in the local 'grain riots' where she distributed grain to the womenfolk of the town.

Proud to call herself Maldon born and bred – "I was born in St Peter's of course and my parents and their parents came from Maldon" – Julie is keen to get across her views on how unique the town is one more time before this interview ends.

"I love Maldon and everything about it," she says, "its community and the beauty of its places, as well as its history, are truly special and unique."